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Naksan Mountain!
Following my recent adventures in Hyehwa (the northern area of Seoul) I have discovered a lot of new areas that I never knew about before. After visiting the Flower cafe on Wednesday, we decided to go for a walk to the nearby mountain Naksan. Naksan is located between Hyehwa and Hanseong university stations and provides a great break from the city, while still being very central and easy to access. The mountain is an easy 20-30 minute walk from Hyehwa station with a few steep areas, but otherwise pretty moderate walking conditions.
Visiting in Spring is an amazing time as it means that all of the cherry blossoms will be out and showing their beauty! We visited on a windy day which meant that the blossoms were flying everywhere (including into our faces) and while not being the most pleasant… The wind here can get quite strong sometimes, it made for a very cool experience which I think you can’t understand until you see cherry blossoms falling for yourself.
The park has a variety of different paths that you can take depending on what you wish to experience. There are great areas to walk to see the blossoms, a path which follows the Seoul Wall, as well as some viewing platforms. Since Naksan is quite central within Seoul it has an amazing view of the sprawling city. I have not yet had the chance to visit at night, but I imagine that the view at night would be stunning.
While I would recommend visiting Naksan in spring, any season is fine. Winter will have times when visiting isn’t great (due to ice and cold weather), but the three other seasons will all provide you with a unique park that is very appealing.
You can expect a decent amount of people on Naksan at any time of the year, but it is usually not very crowded at all. The lack of people is quite surprising considering where the mountain is located and the popularity of the areas that surround it. Personally, I would say that spring and fall are the ideal times to visit the mountain, but summer and winter are fine too (as long as you don’t mind the weather).
Finally, Naksan is great because not only does it provide a great area for people to experience nature and to exercise, but because it is right next to Hyehwa, an area with lots to do and somewhere that everyone should visit. For these reasons, I would greatly recommend Naksan for anyone travelling to Seoul.
Wonderful images and an interesting blog @devi1714 Those skyscrapers certainly dominate the skyline in that first shot don't they? I love the cherry blossoms. It must feel like confetti falling everywhere when the wind blows the petals everywhere.
Yes, the skyscrapers and massive apartment buildings are inescapable in Seoul. Seoul is a city that doesn't really have any large CBD like typical cities, but is rather lots of clusters of buildings spread out across the city. Me too! The cherry blossoms are one of the most beautiful and cool parts of my time here. It's almost like the start of the 'happy' half of the year (spring and summer), and the cherry blossoms are telling us this! At least that's how I interpret it :)
Seasons really do affect our moods @devi1714 and I can relate to your description of “ the happy part of the year,” especially for those of you who have endured a particularly arduous winter. Cherry blossoms 🌸 are an integral part of Asian culture and are used extensively in their art. We used to have a huge wall hanging which featured gorgeous coloured, hand painted cherry blossoms. It was very beautiful.